Why is singing so scary?

Even when you get to the status of Martin Freeman, star of the Hollywood film Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and cult figure in the The Office, singing hold a certain terror. In his own words, "It's improvised singing. It's not the world's great ambition to hear me sing, trust me. The world doesn't need that - it's got war. I'm hardly Aldershot's Sammy Davis."

Apparently it even outweighs appearing naked on screen - Martin was the shy naked body double in the hit film Love Actually. In the new film Confetti, Martin and Spaced star Jessica Stevens had to learn a high-kicking, tap dancing MGM musical number for their wedding scene. "I didn't find the dance-steps that easy to pick up either but, in the end, I loved doing it. I think most actors are show-offs and have at some point spent afternoons singing along to West Side Story. I'm big fan of musicals, but I hadn't been in one since drama school 10 years ago." It took two years to edit down the 150 hours of material recorded for Confetti into a 100-minute film.

And improvised singing is not the only difficult thing for "the new face of M&S menswear" "I was asked to do a reading at a wedding and I couldn't do it. It was really embarrassing. It was impossible for me to get through without breaking down. It took me about 20 minutes to do and in the end one of my brothers had to get up and put his arm around my shoulder for moral support before I could do it. I'm sure everyone thought I was just another luvvie, auditioning for a role."

So performance nerves and wedding speeches don't just paralyse the man next door. But why is singing (or giving speeches) so scary?

Singing first - I find that mostly it's because the performer doesn't feel that they know what they are doing. Perhaps singing is not a comfortable mode of expression, or perhaps they just don't know what to focus on. In my audition coaching I will often spend time with actors on the focus of the story, or the emotion that needs portraying. Or I will provide simple techniques that enable the actor to make the appropriate sounds.

With my performance coaching, I might work with speech-makers (or recently a powerpoint presenter) on the purpose of the speech, the reason for you giving it, and offer hints and achievable goals on breathing, grounding and focus. And of course, to speak in the way that fits you, rather than how you think you SHOULD speak. One recent (and very nervous) auditionee for a lead role in Phantom went into the final audition with several clear goals for each song. He was able to notice when his nerves were about to take over, and was able to shift his focus to some of his personal goals. He came out satisfied that it was the best audition he could do that day.

And you can't ask more than that!

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